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I have done my research on that some people will say you do some people will say you don't. I have actually looked on dwarf cichlid forums and it seems a lot of people are saying you can keep them in a ten. He is not aggressive and it really does seem like he is happy. But thanks for you concern though. Plus I talked to my private fish store and I really do trust their opinion because they do all their breeding mostly by themselves its called Wet Pets and Friends. And their fish tank are immaculate. But I ALWAYS do my research after talking to them too. You never can be to sure.

If you want to fill the background out a bit, you could go with some Bacopa, Rotala, (or for a real jungle effect, you could go with Jungle Val and Aponegeton Natans) I had some Jungle Val in my tank that went up from the substrate to the top of the water and then laid flat and touched the other side of the tank and began to wrap around again!. I've also had Aponegeton Natans grow in my tanks and reproduce like absolute crazy. It grew in the same fashion that my Jungle Val did, wrapping around the top of the tank. I transplanted it to my 55g and it is as long as my hip to my foot (bulb included, now granted it's in a 55g so it has more room to grow but the biggest it was in my 10g was about 1.5'-2')

But for improvements, I would do the following:

Add a black background to make the plants pop and hide the cords

Get a smaller type of Crypt (parva, etc.) to cover some of the foreground up

If you don't like Crypts, you could go with some Dwarf Sag to cover the foreground up a bit

I would add a background plant like Jungle Val, Bacopa, Rotala, Ludwigia Repens/Arcuata, Aponegeton Natans; the list for background plants is endless.

I'm personally a fan of "natural" looking tanks, so I would take that bridge out and put 1 big piece or 2 pieces of driftwood in the tank (it'll also help with the BN's diet). But, those are just my

+1 with the above - I'd also take out the bridge - they look so cute in the store (if that's where you got it from), but once the plants go in you realize how much nicer they look than something fake in there.

thanks for the suggestions they will definetly be thought about. I agree with black background. Ya i am think about getting a background plant/plants also. I was thinking about adding another java fern. I don't think i will add another piece of driftwood though. My one piece is already really big. Also i would love to get rid of the bridge it was only meant to be temporary for some cover until my tank gets filled out. I agree the natural look is the best look. But for some reason by BR loves his bridge and goes under it every night. I think he feels safe under it. So i dont want to make him upset or stressed. So i may just try too hide it with some crypts . and get some java fern. I was thinking about adding anarchis in also.

Those are some good ideas as well, if you take the bridge out and add a small piece of driftwood, it'll provide cover for your BN as well as provide the wood it needs in it's diet. Java Fern and Crypts are always easy to go plants, you can't fail with them. Just a side note about the Java Fern, Takashi Amano (famous aquarist in the Asian hobby) said that the more you break up Java Fern (the rhizome) the more it grows, which I have to agree with. My Java Fern grew like crazy once I broke it up into about 8-10 pieces.